Housing plan for crumbling chapel

The run down Methodist Chapel in Union Street, Market Rasen

Fresh plans for six houses at 29 Union Street, Market Rasen, have been made to West Lindsey District Council.

Rasen Property Services has applied to demolish the 1861-built Methodist Hall, which hasn’t been used for worship in 50 years. Plan are for six Victorian-style houses the firm says will better fit in with neighbouring homes, as well as previously approved projects.

A structural engineers report says the old Methodist Hall, which has been used as a tyre/exhaust repair servicing business, is “in a run down condition with no apparent occupation for some years.”

Broken windows have allowed wild pigeons to nest and breed and the detritus from the birds presents a health hazard to anyone entering the building.

Plaster has fallen from ceilings exposing timber lathes, a timber first floor has rotten timber joists and boards, and the external walls are poor with crumbling caused by frost damage and water erosion. Windows and doors are also rotten, the report said.

Repair and renovation costs would be 3-4 times that of a rebuild and the existing building would need “some degree of architectural ingenuity” to convert to housing. Thus, a new-build would be more “fit for purpose.”

A second report said the in-fill site was in a town needing regeneration and investment. Demand existed for the houses as “Lincolnshire has the fastest growing population in the county due to the influx of migrant workers and those retiring to the area”, it said.